Staff with Criminal Convictions

Charlie McNeive made this Freedom of Information request to Kent Police This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was successful.

Charlie McNeive

Dear Kent Police,

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:
a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials)
b. PCSO
c. Other Police staff

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?
a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including Specials)?
b. How many are PCSOs?
c. How many are other Police staff?

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:
a. The person's role and/or rank
b. The offence
c. Whether the person received a custodial sentence (suspended or otherwise)
d. Whether the person was convicted before they joined the police

Yours faithfully,

Charlie McNeive

Freedom of Information Kent,

2 Attachments

Dear Mr McNeive,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF 19/06/869.

 

Thank you for your request received by Kent Police on 10^th June 2019.

 

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:

a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials) b. PCSO c.
Other Police staff

 

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?

a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including
Specials)?

b. How many are PCSOs?

c. How many are other Police staff?

 

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:

a. The person's role and/or rank

b. The offence

c. Whether the person received a custodial sentence (suspended or
otherwise)

d. Whether the person was convicted before they joined the police

 

Unfortunately your request engages the cost exemption at Section 12 FOIA.
Section 12 provides an exemption from a public authority’s obligation to
comply with a request for information where the cost of compliance is
estimated to exceed the appropriate limit. The Freedom of Information and
Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 state that
the appropriate cost limit is 18 hours in the case of the Police Service.

 

The reason for this is question 3d. This is because any convictions which
may have been received by a person before they joined Kent Police cannot
be retrieved automatically. The record of every current member of Kent
Police would need to be reviewed manually to determine if they have a
criminal record and if it was received before they joined, amounting to
many thousands of records, and is estimated to exceed the 18 working hour
limit.

 

When Section 12 is engaged, our duty under Section 16 requires that we
assist you in refining your request so as to bring it within the cost
limit. In this instance we would suggest the following refinement, based
on current employees:

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:

a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials) b. PCSO c.
Other Police staff

 

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?

a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including
Specials)?

b. How many are PCSOs?

c. How many are other Police staff?

 

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:

a. The person's role and/or rank

b. The offence

c. Whether the person received a custodial sentence (suspended or
otherwise)

 

If you would like to proceed with the refined request please advise us and
we will log and process the new request as soon as possible. You will be
contacted with a new reference number if this is the case.

 

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please do
not hesitate to contact us. If you are dissatisfied with the way your
request has been handled please refer to the ‘your rights summary’
attached for details of the next step you are able to take.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Lakeisha Dowsey-Magog

Public Disclosure Assistant

Information Security and Governance

Kent Police

 

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...

Charlie McNeive

Dear Freedom of Information Kent,

Thank you for your fast response. As suggested I will refine my request by removing Question 3d. My new request is therefore as follows.

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:
a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials)
b. PCSO
c. Other Police staff

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?
a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including Specials)?
b. How many are PCSOs?
c. How many are other Police staff?

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:
a. The person's role and/or rank
b. The offence
c. Whether the person received a custodial sentence (suspended or otherwise)

Yours sincerely,

Charlie McNeive

Freedom of Information Kent,

2 Attachments

Dear Mr McNeive,

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF 19/06/884.

 

Thank you for your request received by Kent Police on 11^th June 2019. I
note you seek access, in summary, to information relating to:

 

Police Criminal Convictions

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides that a public
authority respond to an FOI request within 20 working days. Please be
aware that as well as experiencing very high request volumes, Kent Police
is currently in the process of transitioning to a new crime recording
database. This means that whilst we will endeavour to complete your
request as soon as possible it is likely that a response may well be
delayed, particularly where crime data is sought.

 

Your interest in Kent Police is appreciated and pending a specific
response to your request, I enclose a sheet, which summarises your rights.
Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact us via the following telephone number 01622 652610 quoting the
reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Lakeisha Dowsey-Magog

Public Disclosure Assistant

 

[1][Kent Police request email]

Kent Police Public Disclosure Team

Coldharbour, London Road,

Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7SL

 

External Telephone: 01622 654429

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Kent Police request email]

Dear Kent Police,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Kent Police's handling of my FOI request 'Staff with Criminal Convictions'. Your response is long overdue.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

Charlie McNeive

Freedom of Information Kent, Kent Police

1 Attachment

Dear Mr McNeive,

 

Until a response is issued an internal review is not possible since the
purpose of such a review is to consider the response.

 

We apologise that we have not yet responded to your request but please be
assured that we are working on providing a response to your request as
soon as possible.

 

We are aware that any response will now exceed the statutory time limit
for responding, however we are processing many hundreds of requests under
the FOIA with limited resources and as a consequence there are delays. 

 

If you would like to make a complaint then you may do so by contacting the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), via [1]https://ico.org.uk/

 

Kind Regards,

 

Lakeisha Dowsey-Magog

Freedom of Information Assistant

 

[2][email address]

Kent Police Public Disclosure Team

Coldharbour, London Road,

Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7SL

 

[3]DATASafe - Header

Unless otherwise marked, this correspondence and any attachments should be
treated as OFFICIAL and handled appropriately.

 

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/
2. mailto:[email address]

Freedom of Information Kent, Kent Police

2 Attachments

Dear Mr McNeive,

 

With reference to the Freedom of Information request that we received from
you on 12 September 2019. Please find attached the response letter and
accompanying appendix.

 

Should you have any queries relating to this then please do not hesitate
to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Public Disclosure Officer

Information Security and Governance

Kent Police

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...

J Roberts left an annotation ()

UIN 77581 - 11/11/22

Secretary of State for the Home Department (Chris Philp) responding to a question From Damien Moore about the recent HMICFRS report:

'The code of practice recognises the importance of public confidence and states that applications to join the police should be rejected in all cases where the applicant has served a custodial sentence or is on the sex offenders register.

There is also a rebuttable presumption that a person will not be suitable for appointment if they have a previous conviction or caution for a criminal offence. Factors such as the nature and severity of the offence and age of the person when the offence was committed can be taken into account as each case must be considered on its own merits.'

https://questions-statements.parliament....

HMICFRS report:

An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service
Published on: 2 November 2022

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/...

'Following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the then Home Secretary commissioned HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) under section 54(2B) of the Police Act 1996 to assess current vetting and counter-corruption capacity and capability in policing across England and Wales. This was to include forces’ ability to detect and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.

We were asked to consider current vetting (and re-vetting), arrangements for transferees, whistleblowing arrangements, the work of counter-corruption units and, where relevant, wider Professional Standards '

IOPC:

Statement in response to HMICFRS report into vetting, misconduct and misogyny in policing

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/news/statem...

The Guardian:

The snapshot provided by a report into vetting failures is a dark one

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

BBC:

Criminals and sexual predators allowed into police, says report

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63478011

To check if a sacked officer's name has been added to the 'barred list' you can find a link here:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...